Read a full match report of the Heineken Cup game between Glasgow Warriors and
Toulouse at Firhill Stadium on Friday Dec 10 2010.

Glasgow were far from embarrassed in this game, but they never came close to matching their heroics of two seasons ago when they beat Toulouse in France.

A sloppy defensive performance by the Scots in the first half gave way to a far sterner display in the second, but the Toulouse line held good and Glasgow failed to add a single point to their tally between the 40th minute and the final whistle.

The result maintained Toulouse's 100 per cent record in this season's Heineken Cup, but the reigning champions' failure to secure a four-try bonus point highlighted a weakness in their overall approach.

David Skrela, the international fly-half, failed to exert any authority over the match, his wretched evening reaching its nadir when he punted an easy penalty into touch-in-goal a few minutes from the end.

Toulouse were not remotely near their best at any point, but their errors tended to be made in attack whereas Glasgow's were in defence.

The consequence of that pattern was that Toulouse never paid a price for their mistakes, while the Scots took heavy damage on the scoreboard.

For that, Glasgow had to look to the failings of their tacklers, who failed to snuff out Tolouse moves at source and left massive gaps around thefringes.

Those deficiencies were first exposed in the eighth minute when Byron Kelleher made a scampering run from a free-kick, Yanick Jauzion continued the move with a powerful run through the middle, and Florian Fritz finished things off with a deliciously angled attack that ended with a try on the left side.

The score obliterated the 3-0 lead Glasgow had taken with a second-minute penalty by Ruaridh Jackson, but is also soundeda warning that Toulouse would exploit any half-chance that came their way.

However, Glasgow seemed deaf to the alarm bells, and they coughed up another soft try 14 minutes later. Again, Kelleher was the source, the former All Black's break from near halfway bringing the position from which, after a series of mini-rucks, Jauzion barged through near the posts.

Yet Glasgow struck back with a sharp, if slightly fortunate, try. It came after DTH Van der Merwe had tried an ambitious chip over the Toulouse defence and was lucky to regather the ball, but sharper contributions by Bernardo Stortoni and Max Evans allowed Federico Aramburu to chase a kick ahead, and a wicked bounce dropped the ball into his arms just as hecrossed the line.

Jackson and Skrela weighed in with penalties to keep the scoreboard clicking over, but Toulouse hoisted their half-time tally to 25-16 with a sumptuous try by Cedric Heymans.

Yet again, Kelleher was in at the start, stealing possession at a Glasgow scrum, and a glorious concerted track - and some more inglorious Glasgow tackling - ended with Maxime Medard shovelling the ball to Heymans, who cantered over on the left side.

Glasgow did well to limit Toulouse to just three more points in the third quarter, largely thanks to an outstanding lineout display by Richie Vernon, the No 8 who pilfered a succession of opposition throws on the touchline.

However, Glasgow failed to protect the ball in contact, aweakness that robbed them of any momentum going forward.

Not that Toulouse looked a great deal better. They kept Glasgow at arm's length efficiently enough, but they rarely threatened the fourth try in the minutes they had left.

Three wins from three games is hardly a cause for panic for last season's winners, but they must know that holding on to the trophy will demand far better performances than this.